NASA has a new satellite that it plans to launch in November called Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. The main focus of the satellite will be on monitoring sea level rise with pinpoint precision. Another tool on board the spacecraft will provide atmospheric data that will help improve weather forecasts, track hurricanes and improve climate models.
NASA says Sentinel-6’s primary goal is to measure the oceans, but it wants to add more value to the mission. The space agency says it doesn’t get a satellite launch every day, and collecting more useful data about the oceans and the atmosphere is a bonus. Sentinel-6 is an American and European cooperation.
Sentinel-6 is one of two satellites composing the Copernicus Sentinel-6 / Jason-CS mission. The twin satellite to Sentinel-6 is Sentinel-6B, which will be launched in 2025, to replace Signal-6. The spacecraft will join the TOPEX / Poseidon and Jason satellites series, which have already been collecting accurate sea level measurements for more than 30 years.
When in orbit, Sentinel-6 will collect sea level measurements down to centimeters for 90% of the world’s oceans. The satellite will also search deep into the Earth’s atmosphere using GNSS-RO (Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio Blocking). GNSS-RO tracks radio signals from navigation satellites to measure the physical properties of the atmosphere.
He can do this because when the radio signal passes through the atmosphere, it slows down, changes in frequency and bends its path. This is called refraction, and scientists can use the effect to measure subtle changes in the properties of the atmosphere, including density, temperature and moisture content. The satellite is named after the former director of NASA’s Department of Earth Sciences, Michael Frelich.
